Item of Clothing With Accessories

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to an item of clothing with an accessory such as a badge for attachment to clothing and suitable accessories for the purpose. The badge provides a plastic main body portion having a printable surface on at least one side. An attachment portion is provided having a recess in which the main body portion can fit snugly together with a panel of a garment. The garment is trapped between the main body portion and the attachment portion when they are fitted from opposed sides of the garment panel. The fit between the main body portion and the attachment portion, once the garment panel is trapped there between, is sufficiently tight to hold the portions together in engagement. Alternatively magnetic portions may be used to ensure sufficient hold on the garment is maintained. Throughout, the badge is provided with artwork to cooperate with the artwork on the garment such that the use of different badges, different placements or different sides of two sided badges can alter the overall synergistic effect.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to an item of clothing with attachable accessories such as a badge, in particular, although not necessarily solely, an item of clothing with a badge attached forming a cooperative artwork or adornment to the clothing item.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

In the clothing market, much of the merchandize seeks to provide attractive or engaging artwork on the clothing as part of the product appeal. Typically garments such as T-shirts may have slogans, pictures or other such artwork printed onto the garment.

An accessory such as a badge is similarly used to adorn clothing. However, badges made from material such as cloth which are sewn into the article provide no flexibility in the appearance of the garment as the badges are semi-permanently attached.

A further form of badge which is detachable may have a planar front surface and a pin or similar for attachment to the garment. However, the reliance on a pin behind such a badge generally causes the badge to sit loosely on the front of the garment. Although this may be suitable where the badge itself is an adornment in its own right, it does not allow the badge to easily interact with the garment itself for any overall effect.

Similarly, clothing items themselves are not provided with artwork intended for cooperation with badges or other attachments.

To the extent that any badges or similar that may provide a better fit onto garments exist, such as that in U.S. Pat. No. 5,655,271, they provide no synergy with the garment as they do not match the artwork or design to provide any increased utility.

Furthermore, the item described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,655,271 provides a ring engagement with no backing member. Although still providing a possible flush fit, such an item is harder to utilise as the user, upon placement, is less able to align the two portions shown or press them into suitable engagement with no sizable backing portion to the engagement portion.

A yet further problem with such badges is that the use of solely rigid materials may cause discomfort or failure of the garment to sit correctly on a user. The use of softer materials allows greater yield yet less security of engagement.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide an item of clothing with an accessory and an accessory for use with clothing which may overcome some of the disadvantages of the prior art by providing cooperation between the garment and accessory.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, in the first aspect, the invention may broadly be said to consist in an article of clothing incorporating an accessory comprising:

-   -   an article of clothing;     -   a region of artwork on a portion of said article of clothing;     -   a clothing accessory including a main body portion containing at         least a first substantially planar face and having an outer         circumference;     -   an attachment portion of said clothing accessory including at         least a circumferential portion to substantially surround the         outer circumference of the main body portion such that when said         main body portion and attachment portion are placed on opposed         sides of said portion of said article of clothing then said         article of clothing may be securely held between said main body         portion and said attachment portion; and     -   wherein said main body portion forms or includes an artwork to         cooperate with said region of artwork on said portion of said         article of clothing.     -   Preferably said attachment portion provides a base portion         extending across a majority of said circumferential portion.     -   Preferably said outer circumference of said main body portion         includes an intermediate or leading edge of greater         circumference than a trailing edge to bias said main body         portion towards said base portion of said attachment portion.     -   Preferably said attachment portion and said main body portion         are made from different materials.     -   Alternatively, said main body portion and an attachment base         portion may include magnetic materials such that they may be         magnetically attracted to each other.     -   Preferably a magnetic attachment base portion is separable from         said circumferential attachment portion.     -   Preferably, said circumferential attachment portion includes a         panel extending across the region within the circumference and a         main body portion and a magnetic attachment portion may be         disposed on opposed sides of said panel within said         circumferential portion.

Accordingly, in a second aspect, the invention may broadly be said to consist in an accessory for use with an article of clothing comprising:

-   -   a main body portion containing at least a first substantially         planar printable face and having an outer circumference;     -   an attachment portion having a recess into which said main body         portion may fit to substantially surround the outer         circumference of the main body portion; and     -   wherein the main body portion may be nested inside the         attachment portion on opposed sides of a garment to securely         trap said garment therebetween.

Accordingly, in a third aspect, the invention may broadly be said to consist in a clothing accessory for use with an article of clothing comprising:

-   -   a first main body portion containing at least a first         substantially planar printable face and having an outer         circumference;     -   a second body portion;     -   said first or second body portions being made from or including         a magnetic material for magnetic interaction between said first         and second body portions;     -   an alignment portion having a recess or aperture into which said         main body portion may fit to substantially surround the outer         circumference of said main body portion; and     -   wherein, in use, a garment may be placed over said alignment         portion and between said first and second body portions and         securely held by said first and second body portions with said         alignment portion allowing said garment to reside substantially         flush with the front face of said first body portion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the following drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows an exploded perspective view of a badge in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 shows an elevational view of the badge in accordance with a first embodiment of this invention attached to an article of clothing;

FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of a badge in accordance with said first embodiment of the invention attached to an article of clothing;

FIGS. 4A and 4B show an exploded perspective view of a further embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 shows a cross-sectional side elevation through a badge in accordance with a further embodiment of this invention.

FIGS. 6A and 6B show perspective views of portions of a yet further embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 shows a cross-sectional elevation through a yet further embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 8A and 8B show a front elevation of portions of a yet further embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 9 shows a cross-sectional elevation through a yet further embodiment; and

FIGS. 10A to 10C show cross-sectional views of a portion of a badge in accordance with a variety of embodiments of this invention

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

This invention relates to clothing with accessories and is generally described with references to badges or similar accessories for fitment to the front of garments such as T-shirts or even other fabrics based items such as bags, posters or the like. It will be appreciated that the invention as described may also be applied to other accessories such as broaches, name tags, labels or similar without detracting from the essence of the invention as described. The reference to a badge is only for the purposes of the preferred embodiments as described.

Referring to the figures, the invention includes a badge 1 containing at least one main body portion 2 carrying a printable surface for the presentation of artwork, slogans sports team insignia or other visual items to be presented. In the preferred embodiment of this invention as shown in FIG. 1, this main body 2 is a relatively thin planar body portion carrying at least one printed surface 3.

The main body portion 2 may be made from a variety of materials although in this particular preferred embodiment, materials may include relatively firm plastics such as PVC, PP, PU etc. The preferred form may utilise PU (polyurethane).

It is intended that the badge 1 is provided as a relatively thin badge with the overall width of the badge being, in the preferred form, approximately 2-3 mm thick or less if desired.

Also shown in FIG. 1 is an attachment portion 4. The attachment portion 4 is provided with a recess or aperture 5 in which the main body portion 2 may nest with a minimal gap between the two portions. The attachment portion 4 is a circumferential portion that surrounds the outer circumference of the main body portion.

Again, a variety of materials may be used for the attachment portion and both firm or stiff plastics materials or other materials may be used. In some embodiments, elastic materials capable of stretching to accommodate nesting of the main body portion can be used as will be described subsequently. In the preferred form, a PP attachment portion may be used.

In use, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 the main body portion 2 and attachment portion 4 may be disposed on both sides of a panel portion 11 of a garment 10 so as to trap the panel 11 therebetween. Provided the fit between the main body portion 2 and the attachment portion 4 is sufficiently tight, the badge 1 may be securely held on the article of clothing with limited opportunity for slippage through the frictional engagement of the main body portion 2 and attachment portion 4 to the panel 11 of the garment 10.

In FIG. 3, it can be seen that the attachment portion 4 is provided with a base portion 20 that extends across the majority of the aperture formed by the circumferential portion of the attachment portion. Such a base portion allows easier fitment, alignment and support for the main body portion 2 in use. Furthermore, such a base portion may provide additional strength to the attachment portion 4 to help hold it in shape after repeated use. It should be noted that to do so, the base portion is provided across the majority of the opening in the circumferential attachment portion however, this does not exclude the incorporation of some apertures in the base portion to accommodate something to push the main body portion 2 out of engagement with the attachment portion as required.

Also as can be seen in FIG. 3, this particular embodiment uses a bevelled edge 21 and co-operating bevel on the edge 22 of the attachment portion to assist in securely locking the main body portion into the recess. It is preferred, in this embodiment, to use a leading edge of the main body portion of greater circumference than the trailing edge. However, in other embodiments, the region of greater circumference may be intermediate of the leading and trailing edges, particularly if it is desired to make the main body portion 2 reversible with printing and/or artwork on both sides of the main body portion 2.

It will be appreciated that the cooperating attachment portion 4 need not provide a recess or aperture to exactly fit the main body portion 2. Instead, some tolerance to accommodate the panel of clothing may be necessary although this also depends on the rigidity or elasticity of the main body portion 2 and the attachment portion 4. In a further embodiment (not shown), the main body portion 2 could be provided without any significant concave curves in the outer circumference. An example of such a shape would be a circular disc shaped badge. In such an embodiment the attachment portion could be a relatively highly elastic member similar to an elastic band so as to stretch and conform to the outer circumference of the main body portion 2. It will be appreciated that this inhibits the use of concave curves in the circumference of the main body portion as such portions may cause separation between the elastic attachment portion and the badge as the elastic portion may attempt to reduce tension by taking a shorter path across the concave curve.

To accommodate variety in badge shapes, a relatively inelastic attachment portion is preferred. In the preferred embodiments, a relatively stiff plastics material such as PP may be used.

The outer circumference of the attachment portion 4 can be of any desired shape although to reduce overall bulk of the item, the embodiment as shown in FIG. 1 assumes an outer circumference only slightly bigger than the recess. The width of the attachment portion around the main body portion may be determined by providing sufficient rigidity to hold the main body portion in place and this will depend on materials utilised.

Referring to FIG. 3, it can be seen that the main body portion 2 maybe placed on the desired position on the front of the garment and the attachment portion pushed from the other side of the garment panel to trap the panel and cause engagement. Of course, the attachment portion may be placed first and the main body portion 2 pushed from the front of the garment also.

Referring to FIGS. 4A and 4B, it can be seen that the cooperating main body portion 2 and the attachment portion 4 can be made to accommodate shapes which themselves provide significance such as making the main body portion 2 in the shape of an known object, animal, letter, numeral etc. In such instances, there may be no need for additional printing or similar on the face 3 of the badge as the shape itself forms the artwork concerned.

Referring to FIGS. 5, 6A and 6B a yet further embodiment is shown. In this embodiment, the main body portion 32 and base portion 33 include magnetic material such that they are attracted to each other. The garment 11 is substantially contained between and by the magnetic attraction. In such a case, the attachment portion 31 surrounding the main body portion may not be a major or principal cause retaining the main body portion on the garment. The magnetic attraction can do that alone. However, such a circumferential portion lifts the garment around the circumference of the main body portion 32 so as to still provide a substantially flush surface across the badge portion 32 and the garment extending over the circumferential portion 31.

In providing magnetic material, it will be appreciated that the entire portions 32 and 33 need not be magnetic. It may be simply sufficient to have embedded magnetic material in each. Similarly, a magnet in each may not be required where a magnet is provided in one and ferromagnetic material in the other.

Furthermore, a badge as shown in these figures is also reversible to accommodate different artwork or design on each side of the main body portion 32 or indeed, on either of the faces of the portion 33 which may be swapped to act as the main body portion in a symmetrical arrangement such as that shown. Symmetry is not essential in the portions of the badge as each of the two portions 32, 33 may be interchanged to provide at least 2 faces having alternative artwork. If all 4 faces of the two portions combined are to be used, at least one axis of symmetry may be necessary.

Referring to FIG. 7, this embodiment shows a reversible main body portion utilising an intermediate edge of greater circumference on the edge 21.

Referring to FIGS. 8A and 8B, an embodiment similar in nature to that shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B is shown. Again the main body portion 2 is of a suitable shape for the purpose of the badge and in this embodiment may be a human figure for, for example, a player in a sports team or such other character. The attachment portion 4 confirms to the general shape of the main body portion 2 and provides a recess in which the main body portion, with a trapped garment, may sit.

As shown in FIG. 8B, the main body portion may be provided with a segment 51 on the perimeter of the portion of a specific size and shape so as to co-ordinate and co-operate with a slot 52 in the base 20 of the attachment portion 4. In providing such a segment and slot, when the badge is not in use, the attachment portion may be placed down on a surface such as a desk or table, preferably with the base portion 20 forming an upper surface. The main body portion 2, by placement of the segment 51 in the slot 52, may be stood up from the base and supported in that position. The attachment portion 4 and main body portion 2 are then transverse to each other. This may be particularly useful for users that may have many such badges being different characters or known personalities such as sports stars and wish to display them even when not worn on a garment.

As shown in FIG. 8A, the base portion 20 may also include an aperture 53 that may form part of or may be separate from, the slot 52. The aperture 53 may be useful for the badge once in use when a user wishes to disconnect that main body portion 2 and attachment portion 4. An object such as a pen, pencil or similar shaped object may be placed through the aperture 53 to help push on the main body portion 2 and dislodge it from its attachment.

Referring to FIG. 9, a further embodiment is provided which again may use magnetic portions 60 and 61 or at least one magnetic portion and the other of ferromagnetic material so as to allow attraction. In this embodiment, the circumferential portion 63 includes a panel 64 extending across the interior in which the portions 60, 61 reside. The portions 60, 61 are provided on opposed sides of the panel with the garment 65 trapped between the panel 64 and one of the portions 60. The attachment portion 63 in this arrangement provides recesses either side for the portions 60, 61 to sit. In this embodiment, it can be seen that the recess that is intended to capture the garment as well may be of slightly greater dimension to allow for the garment to nest inside. However, the portions 60 and 61 are of the same dimension in this example to allow them to be swapped to present different artwork if desired. For fitment, a user may wish to first place the portion 61 in its recess to form a combined attachment portion with the portion 63. This may be placed inside the garment and then the portion 60 pushed in place to complete the attachment.

On all the embodiments, edges of the attachment portion that may reside against the skin may be rounded to minimise abrasion of the skin and discomfort. Additionally, a smooth material may be chosen for components that may rest against the skin to again minimise any irritation.

FIGS. 10A to 10C show a variety of different engagement surfaces that may be used between main body portions of the badge and outer attachment portions for an arrangement as shown in FIG. 1. Different edge shapes may allow the two portions to provide greater stability to the engagement.

In use, it can be seen that the accessories may be used with suitable artwork so that the panel artwork may be changed either by replacement, reversing the badge or simply by changing the position. This allows a user to show different allegiances to, for example, a club, region and country on different portions of the badge to support multiple sports teams etc. Alternatively, a change in position of the badge on a garment may cover up artwork or display previously hidden artwork on the garment itself so as to materially change the overall synergistic effect of the combination.

Thus it can be seen that the invention provides a badge and an article of clothing with such a badge attached that provides considerable flexibility in the presentation of the artwork. Furthermore, the badge resides substantially flush on the garment.

This invention has been described by means of preferred embodiments which should not be considered limiting to the generality of the description itself. Specific integers referred to throughout the description deem to include known equivalents where appropriate. 

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 9. An accessory for use with an article of clothing comprising: a main body portion containing at least a first substantially planar printable face and having an outer circumference; an attachment portion having a circumferential portion and a base portion extending across at least a majority of said circumferential portion defining a recess into which said main body portion may fit to substantially surround the outer circumference of the main body portion; and wherein the main body portion may be nested inside the attachment portion on opposed sides of a garment to securely trap said garment therebetween.
 10. An accessory for use with an article of clothing as claimed in claim 1 wherein said base of said attachment portion may be provided with an aperture sized to accommodate an edge segment of said main body portion such that said attachment portion may be used as a base with said main body portion supported transverse to said attachment portion when said accessory is not being used on an article of clothing.
 11. A clothing accessory for use with an article of clothing comprising: a first main body portion containing at least a first substantially planar printable face and having an outer circumference; a second body portion; said first or second body portions being made from or including a magnetic material for magnetic interaction between said first and second body portions; an alignment portion having a recess or aperture into which said main body portion may fit to substantially surround the outer circumference of said main body portion; and wherein, in use, a garment may be placed over said alignment portion and between said first and second body portions and securely held by said first and second body portions with said alignment portion allowing said garment to reside substantially flush with the front face of said first body portion.
 12. An accessory for use with an article of clothing as claimed in claim-9 wherein said base portion includes at least one aperture to allow a user to urge said main body portion out of engagement with said attachment portion.
 13. An accessory for use with an article of clothing as claimed in claim-9 wherein said outer circumference of said main body portion includes an intermediate or leading edge of greater circumference than a trailing edge to bias said main body portion towards said base portion of said attachment portion.
 14. An accessory for use with an article of clothing as claimed in claim-9 wherein said attachment portion and said main body portion are made from different materials.
 15. An accessory for use with an article of clothing as claimed in claim-9 wherein said main body portion and an attachment base portion include magnetic materials such that they may be magnetically attracted to each other.
 16. An accessory for use with an article of clothing as claimed in claim 15 wherein a magnetic attachment base portion is separable from said circumferential attachment portion.
 17. An accessory for use with an article of clothing as claimed in claim 16 wherein said circumferential attachment portion includes a panel extending across the region within the circumference and a main body portion and a magnetic attachment portion may be disposed on opposed sides of said panel within said circumferential portion. 